Christian McCaffrey certainly isn’t the biggest guy you’re going to see on an NFL football field. But he packs quite a punch in that 5’11”, 210-pound frame of his. Despite missing 14 games over the past four seasons, CMC is still third in the NFL with 6,377 scrimmage yards during that time.
Advertisement
He’s crossed 2,000 scrimmage yards in a season three times, including in his last two fully healthy campaigns. He does have good NFL pedigree. His father, Ed, had a 13-year career as an NFL wide receiver, winning three Super Bowls, earning one Second-Team All-Pro nod, and catching 78 TDs.
However, Christian did not inherit Ed’s great size (6’5″), and so he had to work that much harder. And according to his backfield mate with the San Francisco 49ers, another perennial All-Pro in fullback Kyle Juszczyk, CMC’s work ethic has not waned despite two First-Team All-Pro nods in the last three years.
“To just see firsthand how much this guy puts into everything, and how much it took for him to prepare for this season,” Juszczyk said as he marvelled at CMC. “No joke, six days out of the week, he was going from 8:30 in the morning till 6:00PM, nonstop. He’s got trainers with him the entire day.”
According to Juszczyk, McCaffrey really mixed up his training as well. They’d go from his gym, to his field, to his pool, to his recovery station. The All-Pro fullback said he was exhausted trying to keep up and admitted he was not usually putting in similar nine-hour days during the offseason.
According to Jusczcyk, because of his non-stop training and his obsession with improving, McCaffrey has become “the best football player” the fullback has ever played with. And he’s played with over 20 Pro Bowlers in his career.
“Because he’s so well-rounded. Sometimes they like to say ‘jack of all trades but a master of none.’ I feel like he’s the master of all trades. This guy can be the best runner in the league, he can be the best receiver in the league, he’s incredible at pass-blocking, he’s incredible at what he does without the ball,” he said.
McCaffrey is an excellent running back, and he’s a really good pass-blocker too, as his buddy said. But his receiving ability is what really makes him a special player in the backfield. Juszczyk wasn’t exaggerating when he said CMC could be the best receiver in the league if he wanted to. He was one of just seven players with 100+ receptions this season (102).
Christian McCaffrey will soon be the greatest receiving RB of all-time
Through just 112 career games, McCaffrey has racked up 626 receptions, third-most in NFL history for a running back. However, he’s played 86 fewer games than the all-time leader, fullback Larry Centers.
McCaffrey is also already tied with Marshall Faulk for the all-time lead with 36 receiving TDs from the running back position. His 5,390 receiving yards rank fifth all-time among backs. Though his RB record 48.1 receiving yards per game are 22 percent more than the next best guy (Alvin Kamara, 39.3).
At 5.5 receptions per game and 48.1 receiving yards per game, CMC should be the all-time RB receptions and receiving yards leader by the end of the 2027 season. But only if he keeps up that maniacal training regimen and maintains his health.
